Parkland 15th Safest City in US, Reveals Report Released 52 Hours Before School Shooting

According to ‘NeighborhoodScout’ report, a web-based portal, Parkland in Florida is the 15th safest cities in the United States with only 19 violent crimes every year, a crime rate of 0.6 per 1,000 residents.

Police escort a suspect into the Broward Jail after checking him at the hospital following a shooting incident at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland (Reuters)

New Delhi: Barely 52 hours before the mass shooting incident occurred at a Florida school, Parkland was listed as one of the safest cities in the United States.

According to ‘NeighborhoodScout’ report, a web-based portal, Parkland in Florida is the 15th safest cities in the United States with only 19 violent crimes every year, a crime rate of 0.6 per 1,000 residents.

NeighborhoodScout, which includes custom analytics and reports for investing, appraising, and financing real estate, released its highly-anticipated annual list of the Top 100 Safest US Cities for 2018 on February 12.

The ‘Safest Cities’ list compares the safety of cities with 25,000 or more people nationwide, based on the number of crimes reported and the population of each city.

NeighborhoodScout® Reveals the Top 100 Safest Cities in the U.S. for 2018!

The deadly incident is rare in the south Florida city, according to an analysis from the Washington-based National Council for Home Safety and Security.

The group said that just seven violent crimes were reported over the past year, and 186 property crimes took place in the city of 29,242 residents.

“This city, tucked alongside the Everglade Wildlife Management Area on the east coast of Florida, is an affluent one that’s intentionally designed to mimic a park,” the council said on its website.

“With tons of character and charm, it has been an increasingly popular place to live, experiencing a population boom of over 821% in 25 years. The city offers impressive cuisine choices, an extravagant Chinese Lantern Festival each year, and visitors can see the everglades by taking an Airboat Tour in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge,” it said.

The gunman, armed with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle, was identified as Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old who had been expelled from the school, the authorities said. He began his shooting rampage outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in this suburban neighbourhood shortly before dismissal time around 2:40 pm. He then made his way inside and proceeded down hallways he knew well, firing at students and teachers who were scurrying for cover, the authorities said. The suspect, 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz, is in custody.